--- title: "Trust-building activities for work: choose by task" description: "Compare working agreements, commitments, listening practice and optional improv. Check activity limits, then run Scenes from a Chat with full instructions." last_updated: "2026-09-21" canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/trust-building-activities-exercises-for-work-teams/" --- Choose an activity for working agreements, visible commitments or listening practice. Compare the participation demands, with optional improv for groups already comfortable playing together. ## Choose the task your team needs Start with a concrete task: agree how to work together, record who will do what, or practice checking what someone means. The optional improv format below suits groups already comfortable playing together. ### [Code of Conduct Mind Map](https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/code-of-conduct/) **35 minutes; 4 to 24 people.** Agree observable working rules. Turn broad values into specific behaviors and agree how to signal a lapse. **Check before you choose:** Use when new working agreements are needed. Written contributions and silent assent are available. The procedure ratifies shared rules; it is not a confidential dispute process. ### [Who/What/When Matrix](https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/who-what-when-matrix/) **25 minutes; 2 to 10 people.** Make commitments visible after the group agrees its direction. Name a deliverable, owner and date, then review load and dependencies. **Check before you choose:** Keep to 2 to 10 participants. A support role or pass is allowed. Confirm who will circulate the record; a recorded commitment does not verify completion. ### [Active Listening Structured Sharing](https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/active-listening-fun-listening-skills-activity-free-prompts/) **15 minutes; 4 to 24 people.** Practice listening without interrupting, then paraphrase and check understanding. Pairs and an optional trio rotate the speaking and reflection roles. **Check before you choose:** Use low-stakes prompts. Passing, observing, writing or typing is valid. Remote or hybrid delivery requires prepared breakout groups; hybrid attendees each need a device, headset and suitable listening space. ### [Scenes from a Chat](https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/trust-building-activities-exercises-for-work-teams/#run-this-exercise) **15 minutes; 4 to 16 people.** Optional improv: Scenes from a Chat. Two volunteer pairs build short scenes from workplace-appropriate prompts. Use the complete run sheet below. **Check before you choose:** For groups already comfortable with unscripted acting. Others can submit prompts, observe or keep time. The 15-minute plan provides two scenes, so everyone is not promised an acting turn. ## Selection limits - An activity does not establish that trust improved. Address harmful conduct or unresolved disputes through the appropriate workplace process; a game cannot resolve those issues. - Choose for the actual time and total group size shown. Read each run sheet for materials, setup and participation choices before inviting the group. - For listening practice, use low-stakes examples and let people pass or observe. Scenes from a Chat is optional improv: skip it when safety is low, acting is uncomfortable or individual performance is being evaluated. ## Sources and selection notes - [Gamestorming: Code of Conduct](https://gamestorming.com/code-of-conduct/): Observed source for the values-to-behaviors mind map. The linked UWT run sheet includes its adapted timing, instructions and source ledger. - [Gamestorming: Who/What/When Matrix](https://gamestorming.com/whowhatwhen-matrix/): Observed source for the visible commitment table. UWT supplies the expanded 25-minute plan and delivery details. - [Playmeo: Active Listening](https://www.playmeo.com/activities/health-wellbeing/active-listening/): Observed source for speaking and reflection turns. UWT supplies its own prompt card, complete trio rotation and 15-minute delivery plan. - [TeamBuilding.com: trust-building activities](https://teambuilding.com/en/articles/trust-building): Observed collection source for Scenes from a Chat. UWT isolates one playable method and supplies its timing, prompts and optional participation roles. Editorial review: 2026-09-21. # Scenes from a Chat Participants suggest scene premises in writing, then volunteer pairs act out brief improv scenes based on selected prompts. Non-acting participants support the scene by providing ideas or observing. **Time:** 15 minutes. UWT suggested duration based on the 5-minute scene timing in the source text. **People:** 4 to 16. Small performance pairs or trios with the remainder of the room acting as audience and prompt generators. ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Practice spontaneous collaboration and supportive listening through low-stakes comedic improvisation. **Use it when:** Use during team meetings, retro warmups, or remote social hours to shift focus toward playful co-creation. **Skip it when:** Skip when psychological safety is low, when team members express discomfort with unscripted roleplay, or when evaluating individual job performance. ## Materials and tools - Digital chat tool or index cards and pens for submitting suggestions - Timer or stopwatch display ## Before participants arrive 1. Ensure all participants can access the text chat or physical cards. 2. Display the Sample Scene Prompts from participant materials on a shared screen or flipchart. ## Say this to open Today we are playing Scenes from a Chat. Improv depends on active listening and accepting your partner's ideas. You can choose to be an actor or an idea contributor. If you are not on stage, your job is to write creative scene prompts into the chat. Then, our acting pair will bring one prompt to life for up to three minutes. ## How to run it ### 1. Set up prompt pool and roles (3 minutes) Ask for two volunteer acting pairs to cover the two scheduled scenes. If more than four people volunteer, explain that time permits only two scenes and invite others to contribute prompts or track time. Everyone else writes short scene premises into the chat or on index cards. Keep prompts workplace-appropriate. For example: 'Two librarians who discover a secret portal behind the mystery section.' Review submissions and select one prompt for the first scene. ### 2. Run first scene (5 minutes) Announce the selected prompt to the first acting pair. The pair begins acting immediately, building on each other's lines using the classic 'yes, and' principle. Give a 30-second warning at 2.5 minutes, then call 'scene' at three minutes. The audience applauds. ### 3. Run second scene (5 minutes) Select a fresh prompt from the participant submissions and announce it to the second volunteer pair. Run the scene for up to three minutes, signaling when thirty seconds remain. Conclude by calling 'scene' and thanking both performers. ### 4. Reflect on collaboration (2 minutes) Bring the whole room together for brief reflection on listening and support. Ask two participants to share what helped keep the scene moving forward. ## Debrief questions - How did it feel to accept an unexpected line and build directly onto it? - What behaviors from your partner made it easier to keep the scene going? - Where in our day-to-day workflow does an improv mindset help resolve miscommunication? **Finished output:** Two improvised micro-scenes completed with audience-submitted ideas. ## Remote Run on video conference. Audience members type scene ideas in the text chat. Acting pairs turn cameras and microphones on while non-acting participants mute audio and can optionally turn video off to focus attention on the performers. ## Hybrid In-person and remote participants submit ideas into a unified digital chat displayed on the room monitor. Form one hybrid pair or keep pairs co-located so in-room audio does not echo. ## Access and participation choices - Acting is fully optional. Participants may participate solely by contributing written prompts, monitoring the timer, or observing. - Performers may pause or conclude their scene early at any moment by saying 'scene.' ## If the session gets stuck **Nobody volunteers to act first.** Step in as a co-actor with one volunteer, or offer a highly structured prompt that requires only three lines per person. **An audience prompt is inappropriate or put-down humor.** Skip the prompt without calling out the author, choose a neutral backup from your prepared list, and remind the room to keep scenarios friendly. ## Terms used here - Scenes from a Chat: An improv game adapted from short-form comedy where an audience provides written scenarios for actors to play without rehearsal. - Yes, and: An improv convention where players accept whatever reality their partner states and add new detail to support it. ## Participant material: Sample Scene Prompts 1. Two astronauts arguing over who forgot to pack the coffee filters. 2. Friendly neighbors competing to grow the largest pumpkin. 3. Two time travelers who arrived at a bakery in the wrong century. 4. Detectives trying to solve the mystery of the missing stapler. ## Sources and adaptation Observed in TeamBuilding.com article 'Trust Building Activities & Exercises for Work Teams' by Angela Robinson (2021/2025), citing 'Scenes from a Chat' inspired by 'Whose Line is it Anyway?' The source document is an overview article listing several distinct exercises. UWT isolated the single concrete, playable game described in the text, 'Scenes from a Chat' (adapted from 'Whose Line is it Anyway?'). UWT structured the timing into standard 3-minute performance intervals, provided explicit prompt submission guidelines, and established clear opt-out roles for non-actors. [TeamBuilding.com](https://teambuilding.com/en/articles/trust-building) Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/trust-building-activities-exercises-for-work-teams/